Week Four: The Results Are In

After a difficult third week, I decided to make the best of the fourth and final one. The first thing I did was go shopping for healthy meals and snacks. Although I had to cancel one of my gym sessions to prepare for an exam, I made up for it by pushing extra hard for the ones I was able to make. By the end of the week, I felt ridiculously strong and powerful, one of the best things about keeping fit.

I’ve heard so many people say that losing weight or changing your physique won’t make you feel any better about body negativity and other areas affected by it. Although that is true, what working out and losing unwanted weight does is help build confidence and teach you to focus on more important things. When you appreciate how much stronger, faster and disciplined you’ve become, the way you fit into a dress or a pair of shorts is no longer as integral as it once was.

The Results

I managed to hit my daily water goal and I reached a new leg-press PR! The weight goal was trickier to reach. After doing some research, I realized that it was a little too much weight to lose healthily in the space we had allotted.

Even though I managed to reach two of the three physical goals I’d set for myself, which I am pleased with, the biggest changes that came out of the challenge weren’t necessarily physical. I saw a huge improvement in self-discipline where eating healthy and working out are concerned but also in other areas, most notably with studying and coursework. I gained an appreciation for smaller changes. Everyone wants to see results immediately and that’s not possible if you plan on doing it the healthy way. Feeling less tired after a session or managing to fit in one or two more reps are both big achievements. Finally, I learned to look at the bigger picture. I may not have reached the weight I wanted but I’m long past the half waypoint, I have a lot more energy and I’m much stronger than I’ve ever felt before.

All it takes is thirty days. Thirty days to make big changes and see things differently.